Shew

Dennis:

It seems like today was somewhat of a break through day on the level of acceptance that those horses have for us. We let them wear the snaffle bit today for the first time; they both accepted it really well. They were willing to respond positively to our suggestion with I think perhaps the contact inside the mouth opened a pathway to their minds that we had not tapped into until today. The mouth area for any horse is sensitive and vulnerable for them. To allow us willing inside of their mouths it is synonymous with the trust that they have placed in us.

The difference at this stage of the journey between these 2 and the other mustangs I have had is all the others had at least one place and it seemed they were so frightened I couldn’t get them up to things. That so far has been the main difference in training.

Lance:

I felt it was a good because I could see the change in moving a step further with the snaffle getting the guidance going and she got comfortable with moving hind quarters away and then I started working with the forward motion and she would take a step and then take it back and then she would go back forward again and I could see her getting better and better with that reward of release. I gave back to the horse and I could keep that momentum going. I was able to build on the motion quicker and it just keeps going.

What does today do for the riders mind; started off the day I thought we would put the snaffle bit in and thoughts of the what ifs are going to happen. Then I had to alter my thoughts to no this is going to work fine.

I think what makes it interesting and different in a situation like this, we only have 100 days and we are on a time schedule and you can not process any faster than the limiting factor does and that being the horse to a certain degree. We have to operate on their understanding. We can’t make them understand any faster and we have to wait for them to show us they have understood it so then a day like today allows us to take a deep a breath as the horse stepped up in acceptance. For me it represents a boost in confidence because it’s taken some of the pressure off of the rush that is there natural because of the scenario we are under. You go from feeling we are behind to being ahead of schedule.